Past, Present and Beyond
by dino-dog83
Summary: It was early morning and the sun was shinning though the window of the townhouse. Gil Grissom sat on his sofa staring at his Sara's engagement ring sitting on the table in front of him. It'd been a year since she'd left him to go and banish her demons...
1. A home to call my own

It was early morning and the sun was shinning though the window of the townhouse. Gil Grissom sat on his sofa staring at his Sara's engagement ring sitting on the table in front of him. It'd been a year since she'd left him to go and banish her demons. One year since he'd received his "dear john" letter from her. One year since she was kidnapped by Natalie Davis. Sitting there staring off into the distance Gil thought about the past year, when suddenly he was jarred out of his trance by a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey are you alright?" slowly he turned his head and looked up at the woman he had loved since he first laid eyes on her. The woman he'd married only a short time ago. A woman the angles had named Sara Sidle.

"I am now that you're home" he smiled at her and reached for her ring off the table. "Forget something?" a playful tone entering his voice while he held the ring up for her to see.

"No. I just don't like to wear it while I'm at work." She paused, before continuing to defend herself. "I'm afraid I'll lose it or it'll end up smelling like decomp." Satisfied with her explanation Gil handed the ring back to Sara who immediately put it back on her finger where it belonged before placing a kiss on his cheek.

Just as the two were getting cozy on the couch the phone begin to ring forcing them to stop what they were doing. "If that's Eklie, remind him I have the day off and so do you." Gil called to his wife as she headed off to answer the phone.

Sara let out a small laugh and a big smile indicating that she heard him loud and clear. "Hello?" she said as she waited for a reply on the other end. Hoping that Grissom was wrong about it being Eklie. "Oh hey, how are you? We're doing fine. I'll have to check with Gil but I'm sure that'll be fine. Ok talk to you then."

"Who was that?" Grissom asked waiting until she hung up the receiver so he could be sure not to interrupt the call.

"Um it was my mother," Sara replied, looking a bit nervous. "she wants to come for a visit."

"When?"

"At the end of the month."

"Are you ok with that?" His voice now filled with concern for her.

"Yeah," she paused, not quiet sure what she felt herself. "I mean we worked a lot of things out when I was down in San Francisco last year. And we've kept in contact since I came back to Vegas.

"What about her therapy?"

"Well she's been doing well for the last few years. And…"

"According to her." Gil didn't like to just cut her off like this but sometimes he felt it was necessary. At this point he was just trying to avoid the annoyed look on Sara's face – she didn't like it when he interrupted either.

"I have no reason not to trust her about that. I'm sure she'll set up something with her therapist so that she can talk to him while she's visiting or get a referral for one here. Besides it'll only be for four days." Sara wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Grissom or herself that this would all work out in the end.

Grissom stood there silently for a few moments. He wasn't sure this was a good idea, but then again who was he to be telling her how to run her life and her relationships. Before giving her an answer he raised one eyebrow and made a 'hmm' noise then gave her a reluctant "OK."

Sara, however either didn't notice or was ignoring the reluctant tone in his voice as she bounded towards him and threw her arms around his waist and pulled him into a tight hug. Now that the matter of her mother coming to visit was settled the couple could pick up where they'd left off before the phone had rang.


	2. Was that one or two?

A few weeks later….

Sara and Laura are sitting on the patio of a small café enjoying some coffees and making idle chit chat while enjoying each others company.

"So, tell me more about this Grissom guy of yours." Laura gave Sara a wink as she lifted her cup and took a sip of her drink.

"Well there's not much to tell that you don't already know." Sara said trying to avoid the subject. Laura Sidle may have been her mother but she was still uncomfortable having these mother daughter moments with a woman she was just starting to get to know again.

Furrowing her brow, the older woman looked at her daughter and decided to let the subject go for now but not without letting out an 'mm hm' that implied they would later have to revisit this subject. "You know Vegas is nothing like I thought it'd be." Laura stated mater-of-factly obviously trying to change the subject.

"Well that's because we're no where near the strip right now. It's a whole different world over there."

"Still I think I'd like to see it before I have to head home."

"Sure no problem, we can go there…." Just as Sara was about to tell her mother that they could spend the day on the strip tomorrow she was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. Looking down at the call display picked up the phone. "Sidle. Nick, I'm on vacation. Well what about calling someone from Swing or Days? All of them? Wow busy day. It better not. Ok see you soon." Letting out a large sigh Sara closed her phone and then looked up at her mother almost forgetting she had company. "Um.. I have to go into work for an hour or so."

"Oh. Well that's alright," Laura said with a chippy voice and a big smile "I'll just go with you."

"What?" Sara asked starting to become a little confused.

"I'll come with you. I want to see what you do for a living."

"Oh Laura, it's a crime scene I can't just bring you with me. I have to preserve the evidence"

"Well what if I wait in the car and watch from there?" Hope that her daughter wouldn't say no, was now very present in Laura's voice.

Reluctant to say no, and hesitant to say yes at the same time the only answer Sara could come up with at the time was "Um…"

"Great then it's settled!" Laura bounded up out of her seat. "I'll just go pay the bill then we can head off."

Sara sat there for a moment feeling like she'd just been ambushed into the whole thing. "Ok then." She stated quietly to herself.

The ride to Nick's crime scene wasn't far. Laura asked Sara many questions on the way. While Sara did her best to answer the questions she also went over some ground rules with her mother. Sara wanted to be sure she would stay in the car the entire time so as not to compromise the crime scene or any evidence they might collect while they were there.

As Sara pulled the SUV up to the address Nick had provided her with she could see Brass standing in the front yard of the residential house talking with a officer in uniform. She couldn't see Nick, but she knew from their earlier phone conversation that he was already here and likely inside processing the house.

Walking towards her friend and co-worker Sara called out a friendly greeting to Brass. "Hey Sara, sorry you got called in on you vacation."

"No rest for the wicked." She smiled before putting on a serious face and getting down to work. "So what's going on here?"

"Domestic Dispute by the looks of things. Wife's body is in the kitchen. Husband is over there," Brass pointed towards a man sitting on the front steps of the house. Blood evidence was obviously present on his shirt and hands, but that didn't necessarily mean he was the attacker, he could have tried to save her life. "didn't have much to say when we first arrived but now he's claiming something about an intruder."

"What do you think?"

"I like the husband for this."

"Where's Nick?"

"Right here." Nick announced as he came around from behind some bushes. "I was checking the perimeter for evidence of an intruder."

"And?" Sara questioned.

"Nothing. No foot prints, no fingerprints on the outside of the window glass. None of the windows or doors even look like they have been tampered with." Nick said filling Sara in on his findings.

"Have you been inside yet?" She asked.

"Yea, the entire thing seems to have happened in the kitchen. Looks like the husband might of done it."

"I think we should have a talk with Mr. King." Brass added looking at Sara and Nick.

"I agree." Sara said as she and Brass started to walk towards the suspect who was now standing in the driveway. "You coming Nick?"

"No I'm gonna going inside and start processing the kitchen while I wait for David to get here."

"Ok, I'll come find you when we're done then." And with that Sara and Brass headed off in the direction of the suspect and Nick headed off inside the house and the uniformed officer headed off to his car.

As Sara and Brass headed towards the suspect Brass thought it would be a good idea to fill Sara in on some of the details. "Suspects name is Robert King, he and his wife have been married for 10 years."

"Robert King, I'm Detective Jim Brass and this is Sara Sidle with the crime lab. We have a few questions for you." After finishing the introductions Brass pulled out his note pad and pen before starting up again. "Mr. King can you tell us what happened here today?"

"Um.. I'm not really sure. I came home from work, Mary was in the kitchen making dinner and then I feel asleep on the couch. When I woke up I found her in the kitchen covered in blood. So I called 9-1-1. The rest is kind of fuzzy. Someone must of broke in the house while I was sleeping."

"So your telling us someone broke into your house and killed your wife who was in the next room and you didn't hear a thing?" Brass continued his questioning.

"Yes." Rob answered, not at all liking the direction this conversation was starting to take.

"Mr. King I am going to need to take your clothes into evidence as well as a DNA sample and your finger prints." Sara stated noticing that Rob King wasn't going to add anymore to his last comment.

"You want my clothes?" Rob said slightly annoyed.

"Yes Sir, they are covered in your wife's blood and may possibly hold other evidence."

Rob let out a huff to let Sara and Brass know of his frustrations. "Fine I'll just go inside and change."

"I'm sorry Sir we can't allow you do that you'll have to change out here. We can provide you with some clothes to wear."

"Can't allow me? That's my house!" Sara could tell that Rob was beginning to get angry, but she carried on with the conversation just the same.

"Right now it's OUR crime scene." Sara reminded him.

"Well I'm not going to let some Bitch tell me I can't go in my own house." Rob's anger was defiantly showing now.

"Hey!" Brass intervened in the conversation between Sara and Rob, reminding Rob that he was dealing with two law enforcement officials. "Watch your language in front of the lady."

"Lady? I don't see any lady. I see a BITCH," Rob yelled as he pointed directly at Sara, "a bitch on a power trip."

"What's a matter, can't just smack me around like you do you wife?" Sara spat back. "Is that why you killed her, because she decided to stand up for herself?" Sara continued ignoring Brass.

"She's my wife, and I'll do whatever I please with her!"

"She's not property."

"Ta hell she isn't!" And with that Rob's anger got the better of him and he raised his arm and backhanded Sara across the face so hard that she stumbled to the ground.

Brass immediately stepped in to restrain the suspect and tried to place him in cuffs. As Brass was busy with the Rob King, Sara made her way back to her feet and as she was regaining her composer when she looked up to see her mother attacking the suspect.

"Whoa lady." Brass said as he was now trying to break up the fight between Rob and Laura.

Sara now on her feet again and making her way over to Brass to help with the current altercation. "STOP!"

"I'LL KILL YOU AGAIN IF I HAVE TO YOU BASTARD!" Laura screamed at Rob. Then suddenly she produced a knife seemingly out of now where and lunged towards Rob.

Not believing what she was hearing Sara stood frozen in place as she watched the scene in front of her unfold. She watched as Nick and a uniformed officer pulled Laura off the suspect, she had managed to stab him at least once maybe more it was hard to tell. She watched as Laura escaped Nick's grasp and came in her direction.

"YOU!" Laura yelled in anger and pointed at Sara with the knife, but Sara was still unable to move. "This is all your fault. Just like last time!" Laura glanced towards the ground briefly and than back at Sara before she lunged at her daughter knife in hand. Seeing what was about to happen Nick tried to reach Laura and restrain her once again.

Nick grabbed Laura but it was too late she'd already used the knife to stab her daughter. It wasn't until Sara felt the sharp edge of the knife and the blood coming from her abdomen that she moved. Having been released from her trance, Sara immediately put her hands on top of her wound before falling to the her knees in pain.

"Sara!" Nick yelled as he seen his best friends fall to the ground injured. Nick then quickly finished hand-cuffing Laura and passed her off to Brass who was working with a uniform office to restrain both Laura and Rob.

Quickly rushing to her side, Nick helped Sara to lay down on the ground and he immediately put pressure on her wound to help stop the bleeding.

"Sara, it's gonna be ok." At this point Nick wasn't sure if he was trying to calm down Sara or himself. Looking up to see where Brass had went, Nick began to yell instructions at the detective. "Brass call and ambulance, Sara's bleeding pretty good over here."

"Already on the way Nick." Brass yelled back from his car as he put away his radio and grabbed the first aid kit he kept in the backseat.

Joining Nick at Sara's side Brass wasted no time administering first aid to his fallen friend. "The ambulance should be here in 10 minutes Sara."

"Guys, really it's not that bad." Sara tried to convince them that she was doing better than she probably was. She wasn't the type of person to have others fussing over her – even if she'd just been stabbed at a crime scene, by her own mother no less.

Nick smiled at Sara and held her hand while Brass worked on her stomach. Looking up at Brass, Nick just had to know what happened. "Who was that woman? And where did she come from?" He asked his friend.

"Don't know, she just showed up out of no where and started to attack the suspect and thats when you showed up."

"I brought her here." Sara piped in.

"What?" Both men asked in unison.

"I brought... uh... here here. She came...ow...with me" Sara said between grunts as Brass finished dressing the wounds best he could.

"Who is she?" Brass asked.

"She's my mother." Sara said sat up and started to make her way off the ground.

"Whoa!" Nick said grabbing her arm to steady her. "I don't think you ought to be getting up just yet."

"I'm fine Nick." She growled as she tried to get up again, this time she felt dizzy, but decided to ignore that feeling. Continuing to get up proved to be more of a challenge than Sara was expecting and it was then that she realized she should of listened to her body a moment ago and stayed on the ground. Unfortunately that was the last thought she had before she passed out.


	3. Hurry up and Wait

Later at the hospital...

Nick and Brass are sitting in the waiting room. They are both talking on their cell phones.

"No, she's in surgery. Brass called him, he should be here any minute now. Ok see you soon Cath." And with that Nick hung up his phone and waited for Brass to finish his call. As he looked up he saw his Boss and friend walk threw the door looking very worried.

"Grissom!" Nick called to get his attention. Grissom hearing his name being called immediately spotted his friends and headed towards them hoping for news on Sara.

"Hey Gil." Brass having finished his phone call stood to greet his friend.

"Jim, where is she?" Gil was in no mood for pleasantries he just wanted to know what happened to his wife.

"She's in surgery. That's all we know."

"What happened?"

"Well we were at a crime scene wh..."

"Wait a minute." Gil cut Jim off, normally he wouldn't of been this rude, but he had more pressing things to think about then manners. "She was at a crime scene?"

"Yeah" Nick answered.

"She was supposed to be off today. She was going to have lunch with her mother and show her around Vegas."

"Well that's who did this to her." Nick said in an angry voice as he looked at Grissom, hoping the older man would provide him with some information about Sara's mom.

"What?!" Grissom asked as his fingers immediately headed for his temples as he began to message away the beginning of a migraine. "Ok start from the beginning and tell me EXACTLY what happened."

"Well," Nick started. "I was real busy with this case I was working so I called Sara to see if she could lend a hand for an hour or two. I knew it was her day off but I didn't know she was buys, she didn't say anything when I asked her, just that she would come help. So when she arrived at scene Brass and I filled her in on what was going on and then I went inside to process the DB and the rest of the house." Nick stopped there, not really certain of what had transpired next seen as he'd been in the house at that time.

"Sara and I began to question the suspect, when their conversation became a little heated and he got a little rough with her before I could stop him." Brass looked at his feet. He was angry with himself for letting the suspect hit Sara. After a moment to himself Brass continued to tell Grissom what had happened. "Then this woman showed up out of no where and started to attack our suspect with a knife she had."

"And that's when I heard all the commotion and headed outside to see what was going on" Nick cut in on Brass' story and continued on himself. "When I saw the woman with the knife, I went to help Brass get her under control. Brass took car of the suspect and I was busy trying to restrain this woman. But that crazy woman slipped outta my grip and took off towards Sara yelling at her. And..."

"Wait." Grissom listening to every word that his friends had to tell him up until now, had to stop his friend to find out more information. "She was shouting?"

"Yeah, something about his being her fault like before." Nick said scrunching up his face, that bit of information had confused him, because it made no sense to him at all.

Grissom broke eye contact with Nick and raised on eyebrow. A look both men had seen before. It was that famous 'Grissom look.'

"Gil?" Jim asked with concern and curiosity.

"Excuse me?" The three men looked up to see the voice that had interrupted them belonged to a doctor. "Are you all here for a Ms. Sara Sidle?"

"Yes, I'm her husband. How is she?"

"She's out of surgery. She'll be sore for a while and I don't want her to do to much moving but she should be fine in a week or so."

Upon hearing that his wife would be ok, Gil let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd be holding.

"Can we see her?" Nick asked.

"Well she's still sleeping but you can go in and see her for a little while. But she needs her rest. She's in room 221."

"Thanks Doc." Jim said as he patted the man on the back and headed off with his friends towards room 221.


	4. Processing between friends

The three men entered the hospital room, all of them remaining silent because none of them knew exactly what to say. As they entered the room they could see Sara laying in the bed fast asleep just as the Doctor had told them she would be.

"You two might as well head home," Grissom said taking a seat next to Sara and reached out to hold her hand. The Doctor said she'll be fine and she'll probably be asleep for a while anyway."

Getting the hint that Grissom wanted to be alone with Sara, Brass nodded and then escorted Nick out of the room before he had a chance to protest. "Well check in with you later Gil." Jim called on his way out of the room.

"Yeah, ok Jim." was all the reply Grissom gave never once taking his eyes off of Sara's sleeping form.

Gil sat in the chair holding his wife's hand for what seemed like forever, when in reality it had only be about 25 minutes since Jim and Nick had left. While he sat there watching the woman he loved sleep he couldn't stop his mind from wandering. Sitting in the hospital like this waiting for Sara to wake up, waiting to find out if she was going to be ok – reminded him of Natalie Davis. It reminded him of that terrible day they spent looking for her unsure if they would find her alive or even if they would find her at all.

As Gil Grissom sat there deep in his own thoughts, so deep in them that he almost missed it. Almost missed Sara's fingers being to wiggle in his hand.

"Sara?" he questioned in a soft caring tone.

"Gil?" her voice was raspy, and bearily audible but the important thing was it was there. She was awake and talking to him and that's all that mattered right now.

"Hi Honey," He smiled and then reached up to move a strand of hair out of her face. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been stabbed." She replied with a small smile, one that was just big enough to let him know she hadn't lost her sense of humor.

"Well that's probably because you were." A framilar voice called from the doorway.

"Catherine,"Grissom turned around to see his friend and co-worker making her way into the room. "What are you doing here?" Gil questioned his friend rather bluntly.

"Gilbert!" Sara scolded him from her bed for sounding rather rude. "Hi Cathrine. Let me guess you're here to process me and collect my clothes?"

"Yeah, sorry." Catherine looked a little embarrassed. She wished she'd just been here to visit a friend in the hospital. But after word got to Eklie that one of his CSI's had been attacked, again non the less, he'd put Catherine on the case – much to her protest. "But I can come back later when your more up to it." She offered.

"No it's ok, I don't think now or later will make much of a difference."

"Gil, could you give us some privacy?" Catherine figured processing and questioning Sara would be easier if Grissom wasn't here. "Besides you look like you could use a cup of coffee."

Grissom looked at Sara, confirming what he already knew, she nodded to let him know that she would be ok if he left her alone with Catherine. "Ok, I'll be back shortly." And with that he headed off down the hallway in search of the cafeteria. Catherine was right he thought to himself a cup of coffee would be good.

"So," Catherine wasted no time and opened up her kit and started processing Sara by taking fingernail scrapings. "Brass is on his way over."

"To take my statement?"

"No, well yes. He was here when they first brought you in but Grissom sent him and Nick home. I think he just wanted to come back and see for himself that you were alright."

"Oh, ok." Sara moved around a bit trying to get comfortable. She knew Catherine was eventually going to have to take some pictures of her wounds and she was trying to get in a better position to help her friend out.

"Alright well I just need to snap a few pictures and then we can just go back to visiting." Catherine got out her camera while Sara who was about to lift her shirt to reveal the new marks on her body stopped and looked up at the strawberry blonde woman.

"Visiting?" She questioned the older CSI with an eyebrow raised high in the air.

"Yeah. You didn't think I came all the way down here just to process you and pick up some evidence did you?"

"Well..." she paused. "Yeah."

"Sara, if it wasn't for Eklie I wouldn't have even brought my kit. The fact of the matter is I was just coming to visit you."

"I uh, Oh..." was all Sara managed to get out. She then decided to leave the conversation there and lifted her shirt up enough for Catherine to get the pictures she needed.

The room remained conversation free while Catherine finished taking the photographic evidence she needed. And the silence continued as she packed up her kit and all the evidence she'd collected from Sara. Then Sara decided to ask some questions.

"Do the guys know?"

"That you're in the hospital?" Catherine wanted to clarify.

"Yeah. I mean besides Nick of course."

"Nick called them all the minute he walked through the doors of the ER. They wanted to come down with me, but I told them to wait until tomorrow, figured you didn't need everyone here tonight."

"Thanks."

Smiling, a bit of a sinister smile Sara made eye contact with Catherine since the first time she'd arrived.

"What?" Catherine asked, not sure she'd like what she was about to hear.

"How pissed is Eklie?"

"On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say about 50. Though he wouldn't say anything. You know being political and all."

Both women let out a bit of a laugh, knowing that Eklie was probably fuming over the fact that this was the second time Sara was in the hospital for injuries that were related to work.

"I'm glad to see you two are having a good time." Gil said as he made his way back into the room and took his seat once again at Sara's side. "Care to fill me in on the joke?"

"No." Sara simply stated with a smirk on her face.

"Well I should get going, you look like you could use some sleep. I'll tell the guys you're doing ok. Get well."

"Bye Catherine." Both Gil and Sara said.


	5. Just Thinking

A/N: My applogist to anyone who just read Chapter 5, it was the wrong document. That was a one shot story I have posted here, So with out further ado here is the REAL Chapter 5!

After Catherine left Gil and Sara made idle chit chat for a few minutes until Sara started to drift off to sleep. Shortly after she'd fallen asleep Brass poked his head in the door. Seeing that Sara was fast asleep once again, he waved to Gil and gave his friend a nod to let him know he wouldn't be disturbing them tonight. Questioning could wait until tomorrow.

Grissom remained by her side watching over her all night long. As he sat in the chair once again watching her sleep his mind wandered to many thoughts. Thoughts of how this would affect her, and what was going to happen next and of course all the events that had transpired when Natalie had taken Sara. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't let that go. Natalie had been responsible for him almost loosing Sara twice – once had she of died in the desert and the second time when she'd left and went to San Fransisco.

As he sat there watching her sleep, he could tell that it was not a peaceful sleep. He could tell that her sub-conscience was working overtime tonight. He'd seen this before. When he and Sara had first started dating, Gil already knew that Sara was never one to spend a lot of time sleeping and the first time they had shared a bed together he'd found out why. Sara Sidle had a lot of nightmares. Almost every night when they'd first met. But slowly they had gotten better. She'd given him credit for that. She had once told him that she was able to sleep at night because she knew he was by her side to take care of her no matter what the world threw at her.

Grissom knew enough about Sara's past to know that would give just about anyone nightmares. And as he sat in the hospital room tonight he knew that her past had once again collided with her present and that these nightmares and everything that was causing her pain wasn't going to away easily but that he would be there to help her through it this time.


	6. Tears and Fears

Morning had arrived at the Desert Palms Hospital, and so had the graveyard shift of the Las Vegas Crime Lab.

Quietly peeking their heads in the doorway, Nick and Warrick could see Sara laying in the bed, and Grissom sitting in the chair beside her, hunched over the bed fast asleep.

"Shhh..." Sara said as she raised a finger to her lips trying to tell the boys to be quiet with out making too much noise herself.

"Hey, how you feelin' girl?" Warrick walked over to Sara and gave her a loose hug so as not to cause her any discomfort.

"I've been better, but they tell me I'll live." Looking around behind Warrick, Sara could see that Nick looked nervous for some reason. "Hey Nick are you going to come in or just hang out by the door all morning?"

"Oh, well I..." he smiled nervously before he stepped in the room and made his way over to Sara and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"I don't think kissing the boss' wife is the best way to a promotion Nicky boy" Grissom said as he lifted his head and rubbed his stiff neck. Everyone in the room let out a small laugh.

"So how was last nights shift?" Sara asked, changing the subject so that they were talking about anything but her.

"Slow actually, it was kind of nice for a change."

"Always a good thing in our line of work." Grissom agreed.

"Heeeyyyyy Sara!" Greg yelled from the hallway as he came bounding in the room and scooped Sara up in a big hug.

"Ow, Greg easy. I was stabbed remember." Sara said trying to get Greg to loosen up his grip on her.

"Oh sorry" Greg let go and stepped back. "I'm just so happy to see you."

"Us to." Brass said as he walked in with Catherine at his side.

"Hey Guys." Sara greeted her friends. Normally she liked to have her 'family' all together, but not when they were all fussing over her.

"I hate to be the party pooper but I need to talk to Sara alone." Brass announced.

"Ok Sara, we'll catch you later then?" Warrick said as he gave her another hug and headed off.

"Yeah take care of yourself." Nick said has he headed off to meet up with Warrick.

"Ah, we hardly got to see you at all. How long you in this joint for?" Greg questioned her.

"Um, I'm not sure at least another day or two I think."

"Ok, well then I'll come back before shift tonight." he announced before heading off in search of the others.

Now that it was only the four of them that was left. Sara felt now was as good as time as any to ask. "Catherine," she asked timidly. "are you heading up my case?"

"Yeah I am."

"Then you might as well stay while Brass questions me about yesterday. You're going to find out anyways."

"Are you sure?" Catherine knew that Sara was a private person.

"Yes. You two Gil." Grissom didn't say anything, he just sat down on the bed beside her and held her in his arms.

"Ok then, lets get started." Brass pulled out his pen and note book and took a seat beside Sara and Gil. "We had someone from Swing take over the original case you and Nick were working on when you were attacked. Catherine is leading your case now."

"Who processed the scene?"

"Greg and Warrick. Nick called them on route to the hospital."

"Ok."

Not sure he was really ready to start questioning his friend, the woman he thought of as a daughter. Hell he'd even given her away at the wedding. But he knew it had to be done. "Sara can you tell me what happened early yesterday before you arrived at Nick's scene?"

"Uh, my mother and I went out for dinner we talked about the places she wanted to visit while she was in Vegas and then Nick called. He asked if I could come help out with a case he was working on. He'd gotten called in early because Swing shift was backed up with something else. So that's when I headed off to meet you and Nick at the scene."

"And you brought your mom with you?"

"Yeah Laura..."

"Laura? Is she your step mother?" Catherine intervened.

"Um. No. She's my biological mother."

"Ok." That was good enough for Catherine, at least for now.

"Yeah, Laura, wanted to see what I did for a living. So I told her she could come as long as she stayed in the car." Sara finished what she was saying before Catherine had interrupted her.

"So she agreed to wait in the car?" Sara nodded in agreement. "Ok, well Nick and I can pretty much fill in the rest." Brass took a few notes. "Just before she attacked you she shouted something, do you know what it was?"

"This is all your fault. Just like last time!" tears were now present in Sara's eyes and she refused to make eye contact with anyone. Grissom, being the only one in the room that knew the entire story of Sara's past with her mother held her tight. He was also the only one to know that she was squeezing his hand very tightly under the cover of the sheet.

"Sara," Brass reached out and put his hand on her arm. "can you tell us what she ment by that?"

"She knows it's my fault that my father is dead." Sara stated said as tears were still threating to escape and slide down her cheeks.

"Why would she think that?" Catherine was now more confused then before. Something didn't ad up, she called her mom by her first name and she didn't seem to be upset or even all that surprised that her own mother had attacked her with a knife.

"Because she was protecting me the night she killed my father, just like she thought she was yesterday." and with that last statement the tears had made good on their threats and were now freely falling down Sara's face as she tried to wipe them away as fast as she could.

As Sara told Catherine about how her mother had killed her father while Brass bowed his head listing to a story he'd already knew – well most of the story anyways. Grissom on the other hand was now holding his wife in a full hug hoping that this would some how make her feel safe and loved.

Brass then motioned for Catherine to join him in the hallway leaving Gil and Sara alone for a few minutes. Grissom looked up and gave Jim a nod to let him know that he was appreciative that they would have some time alone.

The second that Brass and Catherine walked out the door, Sara looked Gil in the eyes , "She's right you know."

"Who's right about what honey?"

"Laura," she paused making sure she was right before she continued, "she was right, it was my fault."

"Oh Sara," he turned to face her before continuing, "I don't know why she stabbed you but..."

"No. Not that." Sara interrupted him she was now staring off into space. "It was my fault that she had to kill Dad."


	7. History Bites

"How could it have possibly been your fault you were eleven years old?" Grissom was in shock that she could possibly think it was her fault that someone else had committed murder even if it was partially self defense.

"I made him angry. I knew what made him mad. That day, I knew when I decided not to come home straight from school because I wanted to go to the mall with my friends that he was going to be really mad. I knew that he'd punish me or Laura over it. But I didn't care I went anyways."

"Sara..." Grissom tried to stop her train of thought at this point. He wanted to point out how wrong she was, but it seemed that this was a runaway train.

"When I got home he was there. Drunk. Waiting for me with his belt. Laura had tried to get him to go out to his favorite pub before I got home, but he wouldn't have it. He had to 'teach me a lesson I wouldn't forget.'" It was there Sara paused for a second before she turned to look at Grissom with a confused look on her face. "You know I don't really remember what happened next – I know he chased me through the house for a bit, and that Laura was fallowing closely behind trying to get him to forget about me. He finally caught up with me though. And he took the belt to me good that night. I think I even passed out once. And when I came too that's when Laura was standing over him with the knife. He was already dead but she just keep stabbing him." Sara stopped there. That was the end of the story. Sure there was more after that, but it took a lot for her to get this far and she wasn't sure she could go any further with out completely breaking down.

Grissom decided now was not the best time to convince her that her mother's actions were in no way her fault. Instead he returned to holding her tight until she calmed down.

After about 15 minutes Grissom looked down to see that Sara had cried herself to sleep. What with the medications from the Doctors and all the emotional exhaustion he wasn't really surprised she'd fallen asleep again.


	8. A Past Revealed

As Grissom sat holding Sara in his arms the nurse came in to change Sara's bandages and sent the him off out of her way. He made his way out in the hallway to find Catherine and Brass waiting for him. The three of them decided to head for the hospital cafeteria. As they sat there sipping hot coffee's they began discussing Sara's case.

"How is she Gil?" Catherine asked still thinking about what Sara had told her earlier.

Letting out a big sigh, "Sleeping for now."

"And you knew about this?" She asked looking towards Brass.

"Yeah, shortly after she came back from San Francisco she came to see me for a favour."

"She wanted to know more about the case?" Catherine asked starting to figure things out.

"Yeah." Brass answered. "She told me some of the story then. Not any of the details, just enough for me to help her get the information she needed. So I did. I got all the court files and medical records on her and her mother."

"Did you read any of it?"

"Yeah some, but I decided that if Sara wanted me know then she'd talk to me. So I didn't read any more than I had to."

"How bad was it?" Catherine asked the Detective.

"It was up there with the worst of the worst. I hate to say it but I think Sara's mother may of done her a huge favour." Seeing the surprised look on Catherine's face Brass decided to ad to his last statement. "Look I'm not saying what she did was right but I seen what that man did to his family and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

After Jim's last statement the 3 friends and co-workers sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity before Gil finally broke it. "Jim, where's Laura now?"

"They've taken her to the psychiatric hospital out in Henderson. I imagine she'll be there for a long while given her past record."

Nodding to confirm that he'd herd Jim, Gil Grissom sat there thinking about a lot of things. "I should get back to Sara, I want to be there when she wakes up."

"Ok, I'm gonna take this stuff back to the lab and get started on the processing. I'll swing by later and see how you guys are doing."

"Thanks Cath, see ya later Jim."

"Sure Gil." was Brass' only reply.

And with that Grissom picked up his coffee and news paper and headed back off to sit with his wife.

As Catherine and Brass sat there watching Gil walk away, Catherine's curious and bold nature got the better of her.

"Hey Jim?"

"mm?"

"What happened to Sara after her mom killed her father?"

Not sure if he should betray Sara's privacy, Jim Brass sat there in silence looking at his friend. Giving in he decided he would let her in on some of the story – the rest she would have to find out directly from Sara. "She was taken in to protective custody and lived in," again Jim paused but this time it seemed more like he was trying to remember something than decide how much information to share. "a dozen or so foster homes until she was 18."

"A dozen?" Jim nodded. "So it's safe to assume that not all of them were the picture of happiness." Again Jim nodded. "Well at least this explains why she always has problems with the domestic abuse cases."

"Yeah" Jim sighed and looked towards the ground. "She had a rough time as a kid."

"Well I should get this stuff back to the lab. See ya later Jim."


	9. Crack went the Whip

_"Hey Sara?!" 12 year old Brandy Lee called. "Sara! Wait up!" she yelled as she ran down the sidewalk to catch up with her friend. "Julie and me are going to the mall to scope out boys. You wanna come?"_

"Um... I'm supposed to go home after school." 11 year old Sara Sidle replied.

"_Ah common. Justin will be there."_

"_Ah I dunno."_

"_I think he likes you." Brandy Lee said with the biggest smile on her face. _

"_Really!" Sara said with excitement"_

As Gil made his way back into the room where Sara lay still sleeping, he once again noticed that her sleep was becoming anything but peaceful. As he made his way into the room, he debated whether he should wake her or not. Choosing the later he sat down in the chair beside her and took her hand in his before he began to flip threw the newspaper and sip his coffee.

"_Sara" Laura whispered with a great concern in her voice. "Where have you been?" she grabbed her daughter by the arm and dragged her in the front door and immediately up the stairs. "Your father is not going to be happy about this."_

"_I'm sorry mom, I went to the mall with Brandy Lee and Julie."_

"_LAURA!" came a very loud and very angry voice. "Did that little brat come home yet?"_

"_Be quiet and stay here!" Making her way to the living room to face her drunk angry husband, Laura glanced back to make sure her daughter had stayed put like she was told._

_As soon as Sara knew her mother wouldn't be able to see her any more she made her way to the top of the stairs so that she could better here the conversation between her parents._

"Hi Larry, why don't you go down to the Red Lion and have a few beers with the guys tonight?"

"Are you trying to get rid of me Laura?"

"No Larry, it's just that you work so hard that I think you should relax tonight." Laurence Sidle stood in the foyer of his home eyeing his wife, trying to figure her out. Was she trying to be a kind loving wife? No she was trying to protect that little brat. It was then that Laurence reached down and began to undo his belt buckle as he pushed his wife out of the way and headed up stairs.

_  
"Larry! No!" Laura called after him._

"_She's up here isn't she Laura!?" the leather belt was folded in two and he was holding it tightly in his right hand as he headed up the stairs._

_Seeing her angry father head up the stairs Sara decided now would be a good time to make herself scarce. This wasn't the first time he'd come after her with the belt or something else he'd found in the house. Sometimes she was able to hide from him and avoid the beatings, and sometimes not, but she knew she had to at least try._

"_I'll have to teach her a lesson. She can't just do what she pleases Laura, if I don't teach her how will she learn!" Larry had now reached the top of the stairs with Laura right behind him. "Sara?" he called – not really expecting a reply._

"_Larry please!" _

"_ENOUGH!" Larry turned around and backhanded his wife as she fell on the ground he stood over her. "Don't get in the way woman." And with that he looked up and spotted his daughter trying to hide in the hall closet. "There you are you little brat. Come here."_

_Sara, sitting in the hall closet had made eye contact with her father. It was then she knew he to had seen her. At this point she got up and tried to get away again, but her father quickly caught up to her and began to hit her with his leather belt. He wasn't really aiming for any spot in particular but her back and shoulders were taking most of the lashes._

"_Daddy," Sara said between tears "please." _

"_How many times do I gotta tell you," CRACK! "you come home" CRACK! "straight from" CRACK! "school!" CRACK!_

"_Daddy, please stop, I promise I'll be good."_

"Daddy, stop!" Sara's voice may have been low but Grissom still herd it loud and clear.

"Sara?" He put his free hand on her shoulder. "Honey? Wake up."

Sara had been tossing and turning for quiet sometime now, but Gil had continued to let her sleep until she'd started talking in her sleep. Her dreams were now beginning to break though to reality he thought to himself as he again tried to wake her. "Sara." this time he said a little louder.

"Daddy, NO!" Sara's eyes flew open and she sat up tears now falling down her face.

"Sara?" Gil asked, but when he received no reply, he gently placed his hand on her back and guided her to him and into a loving hug. "Honey, it's ok, you're safe now."

Sara couldn't do anything but cry. She wanted to lay back down and ignore what her dreams had just showed her, she wanted to talk to Gil about their life together, she wanted to call the boys and hang out enjoying their company. But all she could do was cry.

Grissom held her tight, he'd have done anything to take away her pain, but he knew all he could do was be there for her and hope that was enough.


	10. Good News

"Well I just told Cath, that they are letting you out of here today, so the entire lab should know in about 15 minutes."

Grissom's statement had made Sara laugh a little. "Hey Gil?" she asked timidly.

"mmm?" he looked up at her and noticed she wanted to tell him something important.

"I was thinking."

"About what?"

"Everything, but mostly Nick, Greg and Warrick." Grissom furrowed his eyebrows unsure of where she was going with this. "I think they should know."

"Know what dear?"

'For a smart guy he wasn't too bright sometimes' Sara thought to herself. "I want to tell them about me. Let them get to know the real Sara Sidle."

"You don't have to, you know."

"Yeah I know, but I want to. I think it's something I need to do, I don't know why, but it just feels right."

"Ok, well if that's what you want, I'll be there to help you the entire time." As Grissom bent down to kiss his beautiful wife he heard his cell phone ring. "Grissom. Hey Jim. Good news, they are releasing Sar... No I guess I shouldn't be surprised she told you already. Hang on a second." Putting his hand over his cell phone he looked at Sara and said "I'll be right back, bad reception in here." She smiled and nodded before he made his way out into the hallway.

As soon as Grissom was out of earshot from his wife, he continued his conversation with Brass. "Hey Jim, you still there? Good. I need you to do me a favour..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Meanwhile at the Las Vegas Crime Lab...

"Hey Jim!" Catherine called as she jogged threw the halls of the LVPD crime lab to catch up to her friend.

"Hey Catherine, I'm glad you found me, I wanted to ask you something."

"Ya sure shoot."

"Well I just got off the phone with Gil and he said Sara is still a little upset." Noticing the worry in Catherine's last statement, Brass tried to reassure her. "Ah she'll be alright she's got all of us to help her though this." Seeing Catherine raise her eyebrows at this statement, Brass continued; "Whether she wants us or not" He winked at the last part of his statement which got a smile from Catherine. "Does the rest of the team know she's being released yet?"

"No, I was just on my way to tell them when I saw you. Why what's on your mind?"

"Gil and I thought it'd be nice if we all showed Sara how much we love her, you know kind of a welcome home surprise."

"Sounds good to me, what do you need me to do?"

"Can you pick Sara up from the hospital tomorrow?

"Yeah of course, is that it?

"Go get the guys and meet me in Gil's office in 15 mins so we can fill them in on the plan?"

"Sure, see ya then."

As Catherine headed off to round up the guys, she stopped remembering the reason she was looking for him in the first place. "Hey Brass, here." She said handing him a file.

"What's this?" he asked taking the folder from her hand.

"The report that the Swing shift is filing regarding the original case Sara and Nick were working on when Sara got attacked."

"Ah thanks Catherine." And with that Catherine resumed on her mission to track down the rest of the team and meet with Brass again in 10 minutes.

As soon as Catherine had left Brass picked up his cell phone and began to dial. "Hey Gil, it's me. Yeah everything should be good to go. Catherine's on board and we're just going to fill the guys in. What time did you want Catherine to pick Sara up? Ok perfect, bye."


	11. Road Worthy

"Alright Mrs. Grissom, that should about do it." The nurse said as she removed Sara's IV and made some notes in her chart. "Is someone coming to pick you up shortly?"

"Yes, my husband should be on his way. Thank you." Sara gave the nurse a small smile and then began to wonder why her husband wasn't already here with her.

"Hey Sara, sorry I would have been here sooner but traffic sucked. Are you ready to go?"

"Catherine?" Sara was a little confused; she thought Gil would be coming to pick her up. "Where's Gil?"

Catherine could hear the disappointment in Sara's voice, even though she knew Sara was trying to hide it. "He had to take care of something else so he asked me if I could come pick you up."

"Oh." Was all she could manage, and this time she didn't try to hid the fact that she wished Gil was here instead. Making her way to the closet Sara grabbed her jacket and put it on. Catherine walked up beside her and grabbed her bag and the two walked to the car together in silence.

The beginning of the drive to Sara and Gil's was very quiet. Sara hadn't said much since they'd left the hospital and Catherine was busy with her own thoughts and hadn't yet figured out how to verbalize them. About 10 minutes into the drive Catherine had given up on trying to be delicate and decided she'd just do what she was good at; she'd blurt out the question she'd wanted to ask Sara for a couple of days now. Yup straight forward to the point – that was more her style anyways.

"Sara?" Catherine waited for a reply; she wanted to make sure the younger woman was indeed listening.

"Yeah?" Sara replied, staring out the window at nothing specific.

"The other day in the hospital, why did you think that I was there just to collect evidence?"

The question had surprised Sara, she hadn't even thought about that. Much less the fact that this was something that was still bothering Catherine. Sara turned quickly to look at the woman beside her. "What?" was all she could manage.

"The other day, in the hospital. When I was processing your clothes and collecting evidence. I really was just planning to come visit you, see how you were doing. Maybe see if you needed anything. But then Eklie seen me leaving the lab and ordered me to take my kit and process, we got in an argument and of course he won. But I was surprised when you thought that was the only reason I was there."

Sara gave Catherine a small half crooked smile before breaking eye contact and looking down at her fingers which she was now beginning to fiddle with. "Because I thought you didn't like me." she admitted in a low voice, never once looking back up towards the older woman.

It was now Catherine's turn to be surprised. 'WHAT?!' Catherine thought to her self just before she slowed down and pulled over to the side of the road. Once they were safely parked on the side of the interstate Catherine turned to Sara and said "Ok what? Where did that come from?"

Sara, still unable to look Catherine in the eye, couldn't really think of a reply. To be honest she wasn't sure where that thought had come from either. Since her return from San Francisco she and Catherine had actually become quiet good friends. Catherine had been Sara's matron of honour at her wedding, the two frequently went to lunch and had even headed out on the occasional shopping trip.

Not having received a response for quiet sometime, Catherine's voice became calm and gentle as she was concerned for her friend. "Sara?" When no response came this time, Catherine placed her hand on Sara's shoulder and for the first time she understood why the girl had not answered. With her hand on Sara's shoulder she could feel Sara shaking and it became clear that she was, without a doubt crying. "Sara, look at me."

Wiping her eyes with her sleeves Sara raised her head to look at Catherine. "Cath...I...don't know...."

"It's ok I think I understand." Catherine cut in seeing her friend struggling to find the words to explain herself.

"You do?"

"Yeah, you were hurt, medicated and had A LOT running though your mind." Stopping for a second Catherine threw Sara a smile before continuing; "Somewhere in that head of yours a few wires must have gotten crossed."

The two women laughed a little before embracing each other in a warm friendly hug. "Come on lets get you home." Catherine said breaking the hug and wiping the tears from her own eyes.


	12. It's my Party

"I'm sorry Catherine but I just don't understand what would be so important that Gil wouldn't be able to stop by and pick me up at the hospital today. I mean he could have at least phoned to tell me himself." Sara complained to her friend as the two women sat parked in the driveway. Catherine knowing full well why Gil wasn't able to pick up his wife today, tried to suppress her amusement as her friend had ranted on about this for nearly 15 minutes now.

"Sara, I'm almost certain he has a really good excuse. Now, can we please go inside?"

Letting out a large frustrated sigh Sara agreed and began to make her way out of the car and towards her front door. As Sara slowly made her way to the front door, Catherine grabbed her bag from the back seat and jogged to catch up to her friend.

As Catherine got closer she could hear Sara mumbling 'Gil had better not be with his bugs' under her breath. Catherine tried to contain her amusement at this whole situation she walked slightly behind Sara making sure Sara would be the first through the door.

When Sara reached her front door, she stopped and stared at it for a moment. Actually it must have been more than a moment because Catherine had enough time to become concerned.

"Sara?" After not receiving an answer, Catherine reached her arm out and put her hand on the younger woman's shoulder and tried again "Sara?"

"Mmm?" She asked as she looked towards her friend.

"Are you ok?"

"Oh yeah fine." Sara stated in a calm voice. A voice that was much different from her anger only a minute earlier.

"Are we gonna go in?" Catherine asked not sure what was causing the sudden mood change.

"Um.... yeah." Sara nodded her head before she turned and put the key in the lock and let her and Catherine in the house. Heading in the house Sara immediately noticed that all the lights were off and it was really quiet in the house. "Gil?" she called not sure where he could be. All she knew for certain that he didn't pick her up form the hospital and accompany her home.

"Maybe he's out back." Catherine hinted trying not to sound like she already knew where Gilbert Grissom was hiding.

"Yeah maybe." Sara said in the same calm tone that she'd used when her and Catherine were standing on the doorstep. Catherine noticed the tone but decided not to say anything since she was pretty sure of the answer she would receive – that answer being 'I'm fine' which was of course the standard Sara Sidle answer for everything.

Sara stood in the middle of the living room for a second not moving, not talking, not looking around just standing. Then she moved towards the back door and opened the door.

"SURPRISE" yelled a crowd of people all of who Sara recognized. Sara stood in the doorway as Grissom made his way from the group of people towards his wife – who for lack of a better term seemed to be a little shell shocked at the group gathered before her.

"Welcome home." Gil said in her ear before giving her a welcome back kiss. As Grissom withdrew he noticed the tears in Sara's eyes. "Honey? What's wrong?" Searching her eyes for answer and not getting one Grissom looked to Catherine for an answer.

Catherine gave Grissom an 'I don't know look' before turning her attention to Sara. "Sara?"

Sara turned her head and looked at Catherine, "What's everyone doing here?"

"We're all here to see you." Catherine said.

"Me? Why?" confusion evident in both her voice and face.

"Because we all love you honey and we wanted to have a welcome home party for you." Gil replied without missing a beat.

Sara thought about that statement for a moment before she smiled and gave both Grissom and Catherine a big hug.

"Hey everything alright?" Nick's voice came from behind Catherine. Without replying Sara turned to Nick and gave him a big bear hug. "Woah, ok." Nick said not expecting the reply he'd gotten to his question, but welcomed it none the less. "Waddya say we get something to eat, I'm starving!" Nick suggested as their hug ended.

"Sounds good to me – anything has to be better than hospital food." Sara smiled and walked off with Nick's arm around her shoulders.

"Catherine" Grissom said as he stopped her from following her friends and joining the rest of the group.

"Yeah?" she questioned as she turned to face him.

"Did something happen when you picked Sara up from the hospital? She seems..."

"off?" Catherine finished the sentence for him. "I'm not sure. I mean I picked her up. She was disappointed that it was me and not you. Then we started to drive home, had a little friendly chat about some things, then we sat out front for 15 minutes while she complained about you. Th..."

"Me?" Gil interrupted, "what'd I do?"

"Well you could have at least called to tell her you wouldn't be picking her up. Ever heard of making an excuse Gil?" Catherine raised one eyebrow at her last statement before continuing with her story from earlier. "So like I was saying, she was quiet angry with you when we got out of the car but then when she got to the door she just stopped and stared at it and then she's been all calm since."

"Stopped and stared?"

"Yeah almost like she was in deep thought about something."

"Well she does have a lot on her plate right now." Grissom stopped to think for a minute before continuing, "I'll talk to her tonight after the party. And with that both Grissom and Catherine joined Sara, Nick and the others for some fun.

For the next few hours the small group of friends enjoyed each others company, laughing and sharing stories and antic dotes of the 'good ol' days' while enjoying food and the occasional drink.

As the party was winding up and all the guests were getting ready to leave, Sara pulled Nick, Greg and Warrick aside; "Hey guys, I was wondering if you'd do me a favour and stop by tomorrow night before shift?"

"Sure, is there something we should bring?" Nick asked.

"No, I just want to share some things with you guys, but I need some time to get things together. And with that the 3 boys headed off for the night with the promise to return before their shift the next day.


	13. Truth be Told

Sara was glad to be back in her own bed. She was also glad for the man that lay beside her with his arms wrapped around her.

"Sara are you awake?" Gil asked, even though he knew she was; he could tell by the way she was breathing.

"Yeah." She replied simply.

"Was something wrong today?"

"What do you mean?" she rolled over to face him.

"Well you seemed a little off when you first got home. You were surprised to see everyone that we was here for you." Waiting for a moment Gil wanted her to say something in response. When she didn't he searched her eyes hoping to find answers. When he found none he continued, "Catherine says you stopped at the front door and your mood changed all of a sudden. Sara please tell me what is going on."

Letting out a big sigh Sara began to tell Gil how she felt, even though she knew he would think she was silly. Hell she thought she was silly for thinking these things. "I know it's silly but I was surprised. When you didn't come to pick me up from the hospital I thought it was because you didn't care, and when the guys were here I was surprised that they were all here for me."

"Sara…" Gil wasn't sure what to say. The thought of her thinking he didn't care had hurt, but he pushed that aside because this wasn't really about him. It was about her. "Honey, how could you think I didn't care?" he then reached over and gave her a big hug. "I love you more than anything, and I'll spend a life time proving it to you."

Letting out a small laugh Sara smiled and hugged him back. This conversation wasn't out of the norm for this particular couple. Gil knew Sara had some trust issues and had trouble feeling loved and secure that people weren't just going to up and leave her. He knew it had to do with growing up in the foster care system and what had happened while she still lived with her parents. "Gil, I've asked the boys to come over before shift tomorrow night and I need your help with something."

Sitting up on one elbow Gil looked at his wife and replied; "Sure whatever you need."


	14. The Brotherhood

As promised the boys gathered at the Grissom household before their shift the night after Sara's welcome home party. Although none of them were exactly sure what Sara wanted to talk to them about, they were all pretty sure it had something to do with her recent attack at Nick's crime scene.

The boys had decided earlier in the day that they would meet a few minutes early in the parking lot of the Grissom's building and that way they could share their theories about what Sara wanted to tell them. Yes it was gossip but not one of the guys would ever be caught calling it that, well except for maybe Greg.

"'Bout time you got here Greggo." Nick grinned at the younger CSI as he pulled into the parking lot.

"Sorry – traffic is backed up on the parkway," was his only reply. "So any of you know what this is about?"

"Nah man, just what Sara said last night at the party about wanting to talk to us." Warrick added. "Nick, you were there when she was attacked, you would have the most insight into this."

Shaking his head, Nick was unsure of where to start. Nothing that happened at the crime scene had made any sense to him either. "I dunno. I mean one second everything was normal. We were working the crime scene. I was inside the house, Sara was working the perimetre and Brass was talking with the husband. Then I heard shouting and when I came outside it looked like Sara and the suspect were arguing. Then outta no where this woman shows up and attacked the suspect and then Sara. Then that's when it got weird."

"What do you mean weird?" Warrick asked.

"Well when Brass and I were administering first aid we were trying to figure out where this woman showed up from. That's when Sara told us that was her mom."

"Her mom?" Greg was surprised.

"Yeah man. Then the ambulance showed up and then you know the rest." Nick finished.

"Whoa that's harsh." Warrick said not really sure what else to say. "Well let's go see what she has to tell us then." And with that the three of them headed up to the door to go see Sara.

Once they got to the door and knocked they didn't have to wait very long for a reply. Sara answered the door with that Sara Sidle smile that they all know and love. After exchanging pleasantries and getting settled in they began to talk.

"So where is Grissom?" Warrick asked noticing it was just the four of them.

"Gil will be here shortly he's just picking up something for me."

"Is Catherine and Brass coming over too?" Greg asked.

"Uh no, no it'll just be us." Sara said fiddling with her fingers as she talked. As she sat there she wished Gil would hurry up. She'd told him to leave earlier than what he had and that if he didn't hurry he'd be late. She made a mental note to tell him 'I told you so' later.

As if entering on queue Grissom walked through the door with a stack of case files tucked under his arm.

"Geez, don't you ever take a day off?" Greg teased noticing the files under his arm.

"Yes Greg," Grissom replied walking over to his wife. "Sorry I'm late." He kissed her on top of the head before sitting down beside her.

"Did you get everything?" Sara asked her husband.

"Yes, are you sure you want to do this?" Grissom asked back.

"Yeah." Sara's voice was low but still sounded confident, at least to Grissom.

Having finished their private conversation Grissom handed the case files to Sara and waited for her to start. "This," Sara began as she handed a file to each of her friends, "is why I asked you to come over."

"What is it?"

"It's my case file. From when I was younger." Sara stopped there for a minute. "I want you to read it. Catherine, Brass and of course Gil already know pretty much everything that's in there. And now it's your turn." Relief was evident in Sara's voice.

"What do you mean from when you were younger?" Greg asked taking a file folder and passing the pile down.

"Uh," Sara paused for a minute, she really hoped they would all just read the file and that would be it. Even though she felt ready to share her past with her new family she still found it hard to talk about these things – which is why she had Gil make copies of the file in the first place. "When I was younger my family was…" again she stopped but this time it was to think of the word that was just at the tip of her tongue "…less than perfect." Sara bowed her head to avoid any eye contact with the boys.

"Sara," Nick started but waited for her to look up before he continued. When he was sure he had her full attention, he started again; "Sara, why are you telling us all this now?"

"Humm" She started with a sort of giggle. "well that's the part that's kind of embarrassing." At this point she not only had the undivided attention of Nick, Greg and Warrick but Gil as well since she never really explained the sudden change of heart to him either. "When I was at the hospital, I had some time thing about a lot of things. And then yesterday when I was released from the hospital and Gil didn't come pick me up, I was a little worried that he didn't really care. But when I got home and you all were here and I found out that the reason he didn't pick me up was because he was busy organizing a welcome home party to make me feel better, that's when everything became clear." And that's where she stopped her explanation, just like everyone was supposed to magically know what she meant by 'clear'.

"Clear? I don't understand." Greg said when he realized the current thought train she was on hadn't pulled into his station just yet.

"Yeah. For years now I've been waiting for the bottom to fall out. For Gil to leave, for you guys to realize I'm not really all that interesting or smart. For Catherine and Brass to decide I'm not worth the effort and move on."

"Sara…" Nick started but he was cut off by Sara raising her hand to stop him.

"But then at the party when you were all here for me I realized how silly I'd been, just because things didn't work out with my family doesn't mean they won't work out with my new one. You guys more of a family to me than my own ever was or could be."

"Well I've heard enough." Warrick stated with all seriousness as he stood up. Watching this Sara became concerned, no scared – she was defiantly scared. She was scared that she'd said too much and that all her past fears were about to come true. That Warrick was about to tell her that he had no interest in being a 'big brother' to a girl that was damaged, the girl with the broken past.

Warrick steadily made his way over to where Sara sat the worry evident on her face. Once he reached her he held out the file for her to take. She looked at his face, the best poker face she'd ever seen – even she couldn't tell what he was thinking at this point and that was a rarity between the two. Slowly she reached out and took the file from his hands while trying to hold back the tears that were VERY near the surface.

As soon as Sara took the file out of his hand Warrick spoke again. "I don't want to read about your life in some file." And for the first time since this whole discussion started he cracked a smile and said; "I'd rather hear it straight from you if there's something you want to share." And with that very simple sentence a few tears fell from Sara's eyes before she used the folder to hit him in the arm.

"Warrick Brown!" she tried her best to sound cross. "That was not very nice."

"Well you said we were family, aren't brothers supposed to annoy there little sisters?" He questioned before he let out a little laugh.

"Yeah and they are supposed to protect them too." Nick said as he whipped the couch cushion at Warrick's head.

Seeing what was about to happen Grissom thought it time to ad his two cents to this conversation. "Take it outside boys."

And with that the room bust out in laughter. And that's how the night ended with the three boys and the happy couple sitting around laughing. The serious stuff could wait for another time.

Just before it was time for the three male CSI's to leave for their shift. Nick pulled Sara aside and gave her back the file as well. Telling her that he felt the same way Warrick did, he'd rather talk to her than read it in some file. Sara smiled and thanked him with a hug.

An hour later….

When Gil showed up with a plate of food for Sara he found her fast asleep on the couch and pulled the blankets up around her and kissed her on the cheek before nesting himself in the arm chair with a book and Sara's dinner.

THE END


End file.
